Herefordshire Safeguarding Children Board
Strategy to tackle Child Sexual Exploitation
PROSECUTE
IDENTIFY
PREVENT
PURSUE
PROTECT
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
1
Foreword
This strategy sets out the commitment of Herefordshire Safeguarding Children Board to do
everything possible to prevent child sexual exploitation and support victims of this abuse.
We recognise that only a proactive, co-ordinated, multi-agency approach will be effective in
disrupting child sexual exploitation and prosecuting perpetrators.
Aim of this strategy
The strategy is designed to ensure the following outcomes:

Children and young people have an increased awareness of safe and healthy relationships.

Parents/carers and the wider community have an increased awareness of the signs and indicators
of child sexual exploitation.

Children and young people who are being sexually exploited are effectively supported.

Perpetrators are disrupted and/or held to account for their actions via the Criminal Justice
System.

Set out a plan of action to achieve these aims
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
2
Index
Summary
What are we doing?
4
What is Child Sexual Exploitation
Definition
5
What we know about CSE
CSE in Herefordshire and the National issue
6
Our Approach
The aim of the strategy
7
Priorities
Identify
Prevent
Protect
Pursue
Prosecute
9
11
13
14
15
Implementation, Monitoring and Review
16
Appendices
Action Plan
Dataset
See Me, Hear Me Framework
CSE & Missing Subgroup Terms of Reference
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
3
18
29
30
31
Summary
Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is a form of child abuse that is often hidden from sight, difficult to
identify, and harder still to stop. It preys upon the most vulnerable in society and perpetrators
mostly evade prosecution.
Barnardo’s called child sexual exploitation the “single biggest threat facing children and young people
in the UK today.” It is an area of national concern following a number of high profile prosecutions and
serious case reviews, and publication of extensive research into the subject. It has recently been
prioritised by the Government as a ‘national threat’.
This strategy sets out how HSCB will take action to IDENTIFY and PREVENT young people from being
sexually exploited; to PROTECT those who are being or are at risk of being exploited; and to PURSUE
and PROSECUTE perpetrators.
It reflects guidance and recommendations from a range of sources, as well as from recently published
serious case reviews. It is premised on the understanding that an effective response requires a whole
community approach.
CSE is a key priority for Herefordshire Safeguarding Children Board.
There is a wealth of expertise in Herefordshire and our ambition is to work harder to understand the
prevalence and nature of child sexual exploitation and provide a strategic framework to achieve
maximum impact.
In Herefordshire we are determined to work together across agencies to identify those vulnerable to
sexual exploitation, build resilience, and prevent exploitation taking place. We will work with young
people, their families, professionals and communities to raise awareness of the issue and ensure our
early help services are well placed to provide effective support.
What we are doing
The Child Sexual Exploitation and Missing subgroup of HSCB is responsible for leading and
coordinating activity across 4 key areas:
Effective governance and strategic planning

Prevention and early identification

Protection: Identifying and safeguarding children and young people who are at risk

Pursue: Identifying offenders, disrupting and stopping their activity.
The HSCB has developed an action plan that sets out the work that will be undertaken in these areas
in order to tackle child sexual exploitation in Herefordshire and achieve the aims of the strategy.
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
4
What is Child Sexual Exploitation?
Child sexual exploitation is a form of child abuse.
There is not one type of victim or offender of CSE. CSE can take many forms in many settings. If we
look at just one model, such as group or gang CSE, we risk missing other victims who do not fall into
that category. There is also a risk that victims don’t recognise their abuse as CSE because it doesn’t fit
a particular model.
“Sexual exploitation of children and young people under 18 involves exploitative
situations, contexts and relationships where young people (or a third person or persons)
receive ‘something’ (e.g. food, accommodation, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, affection,
gifts, money) as a result of them performing, and/or another or others performing on
them, sexual activities.
Child sexual exploitation can occur through the use of technology without the child’s
immediate recognition; for example being persuaded to post sexual images on the
Internet/mobile phones without immediate payment or gain.
In all cases, those exploiting the child/young person have power over them by virtue of
their age, gender, intellect, physical strength and/or economic or other resources.
Violence, coercion and intimidation are common, involvement in exploitative
relationships being characterised in the main by the child or young person’s limited
availability of choice resulting from their social/economic and/or emotional
vulnerability.”
The HSCB has adopted the definition of sexual exploitation that is set out in statutory guidance:
DFE 2009
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
5
What we know about CSE in Herefordshire
Herefordshire Council and its partner agencies are developing their systems to accurately collect,
analyse and report information related to keeping children safe from sexual exploitation. Whilst
Herefordshire Council collects data in respect of children and young people who are being sexually
exploited who are known to Children’s Social Care, this is a recent initiative and as yet does not
include data in respect of children at risk of Child Sexual Exploitation who fall below the mandated
thresholds. As a result, Herefordshire does not yet have a fully comprehensive system to collate data
in respect of children and young people at risk of or being sexually exploited and so it is challenging
to provide extensive information on the full extent of the potential problem in the County. West
Mercia Police data indicates that since 1st April 2013, 75 individuals in Herefordshire were identified
as likely to have CSE as a feature in their lives. CSE is often described as a 'hidden issue' as many
cases remain undisclosed or unreported and therefore any data will need to be recognised as
reflecting the known extent of CSE in Herefordshire as opposed to the actual incidents of CSE.
However it is the councils aim to continuously improve the robustness of data in this area to reduce
risk to this vulnerable group.
Available information indicates that young people are more likely to be sexually exploited by lone
perpetrators, including online. There is some information that children and young people are
sexually exploited by groups, however this is the least common form of known CSE. No particular
ethnic group has been identified as being disproportionally involved in perpetrating CSE and there
are also cases where other young people have sexually exploited their peers. CSE happens to those
young people who live in towns as well as more rural areas and to both boys and girls, although
further work is needed to raise awareness and identify male victims of CSE and properly understand
peer on peer child sexual exploitation. In Herefordshire we know young people can be targeted from
around 12 years of age and groomed for the purposes of child sexual exploitation. In the West
Mercia Police region, the peak age group of victims is 14-15 years old. These findings are consistent
with learning from other areas and have informed the delivery plan that supports the
implementation of this strategy.
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
6
The Warwickshire and West Mercia Police CSE Problem Profile, published in Sept 2014, identified that
between April 2014 and August 2014, there were 45 CSE related offences/crimed incidents within
Herefordshire, with Herefordshire identified as a “secondary hotspot”. The report states that CSE is
almost exclusively committed by males against females, with most offenders aged between 18 and
24 (62%). Lone offenders have been identified as the most common model of CSE in Herefordshire.
Offenders tend to be male and are concentrated around 18 to 21 years old and, as above, their
victims tend to be 14 to 15 year old females (21% of lone offender offences). Online CSE offenders
are mainly white males concentrated around the 18 to 21 year age group, with 14 to 15 year old
female victims.
There is also more work to do to raise awareness that CSE happens to children living in the
community with their families and not just those looked after by Herefordshire Council. Looked After
young people placed in the county by other local authorities may already be victims of CSE and as a
result there is a need consider their safety and the safety of other young people in the placement as,
by virtue of their contact with a known CSE victim, they are vulnerable to being targeted for the
purposes of sexual exploitation.
At a national level, the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) report ‘If it’s not better. It’s not
the end1’ published in February 2015, found considerable disparity in the number of identified CSE
victims in similar local authorities and the report concluded that this was more likely to reflect the
under-identification of victims rather than the actual incidents of CSE. The report compared the
number of identified CSE victims for every 10,000 children and young people in a group of 9 local
authorities considered to be ‘statistical neighbours’. Despite the profile and nature of the local
authorities being very similar, the levels of identification of CSE vary significantly, from 66.54 victims
to only 1 per 10,000 children and young people. Given the socioeconomic and demographic
similarities between the local authorities in this group, the OCC concluded that there is no reason the
rates should vary to this extent.
1
‘ Inquiry into child sexual exploitation in gangs and groups’ Office of the Children’s Commissioner (2015)
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
7
Our approach
The aim of this strategy is to raise the profile of CSE and develop a shared approach across all partner
agencies.
The aspiration is to develop a strategic overview of the issue supporting a proactive approach to
identifying those at risk and disrupting and prosecuting offenders.
To achieve our aims, the HSCB will work in partnership with:

Young people

Parents and carers

Communities and local organisations

Partner agencies

Neighbouring LSCB’s, local authorities and their partners.
In November 2013, the OCC published the final report of its Inquiry into CSE in Gangs and Groups
which includes an evidence based and child-centred framework protecting children and young people
from CSE called the “See Me Hear Me” framework2.
The See Me Hear Me framework was developed in conjunction with the young people who have
been victims of child sexual exploitation. Young people have suggested that the following should be
at the heart of all planning and decision making about CSE:
-
Don’t make assumptions about who I am and what I need
Help make me safe and stop it happening
It’s not just me
Punish the right people
Don’t think there is a quick fix
Appendix 3 sets out the functions and processes as well as a suggested structure within which the
Framework can be implemented. The See Me, Hear Me framework has been used to inform this CSE
strategy.
2
‘See me Hear Me Framework’ OCC November 2013
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
8
The OCC report also sets out the foundations of good practice to protect children and young people
from child sexual exploitation:
HSCB is committed to translating these foundations into practice through its effective leadership and
co-ordination of arrangements to respond to child sexual exploitation.
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
9
Principles in tackling CSE
Herefordshire’s Principles in underpinning a multi-agency response to the sexual exploitation of
children include:
 Recognises that child sexual exploitation happens in Herefordshire and actively seeks to
identify and support children and young people who are at risk of or are being sexually
exploited
 Takes a proactive approach. This includes a focus on prevention, early identification as well as
enduring support, intervention, disrupting activity and prosecuting perpetrators as well as
preventing re-victimisation;
 Recognises that children and young people do not make informed choices to enter or remain
in sexual exploitation, but do so due to coercion, enticement, manipulation or desperation;
 Addresses the various models of child sexual exploitation and places responsibility for sexual
exploitation with the perpetrator(s);
 Focuses on the needs and rights of children and young people. Children and young people are
entitled to be safeguarded from sexual exploitation;
 Recognises that young people under 16 cannot legally consent to sexual activity and sexual
intercourse with children under the age of 13 is statutory rape;
 Recognises that young people over the age of 16 can be sexually exploited;
 Treats sexually exploited young people as victims of child abuse;
 Carefully supports young people to distinguish between their own choices about sex and
sexuality, and the sexual activities they are coerced into;
 Promotes professional responses that recognise and treat parents/carers as equal partners in
all assessment, planning and review processes designed to safeguard their child; unless the
professional assessment evidences that parents/carers are complicit in the abuse
Ensures that primary law enforcement is made against the adults who groom, traffic and
sexually exploit young people;
 Promotes effective joint working between different agencies and professionals underpinned
by a shared understanding of the problem of sexual exploitation;
 Has regard for specific factors such as the age, disability, race, ethnicity or cultural
backgrounds of both perpetrators and victims;
 Supports empowerment of children, young people and their families as well as the wider
community to keep children and young people safe from abuse/neglect.
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
10
IDENTIFY
(Vulnerability and Harm)
Recognising the warning signs
Children are groomed and exploited in different ways. It may be difficult for parents, carers and
frontline practitioners to differentiate between ordinary teenage behaviour and the risk of
involvement in sexual exploitation. However there are some signs that may signify that children or
young people are being groomed for sexual exploitation or actually being sexually exploited.
The following are typical vulnerabilities in children prior to abuse.















Living in a chaotic or dysfunctional household (including parental substance use, domestic
violence, parental mental health issues, parental criminality)
History of abuse (including familial child sexual abuse, risk of forced marriage, risk of honourbased violence, physical and emotional abuse and neglect)
Recent bereavement or loss.
Gang-association either through relatives, peers or intimate relationships (in cases of gangassociated CSE only).
Attending school with children and young people who are already sexually exploited.
Learning disabilities.
Unsure about their sexual orientation or unable to disclose sexual orientation to their
families.
Friends with young people who are sexually exploited.
Homeless.
Lacking friends from the same age group.
Living in a gang neighbourhood.
Living in residential care.
Living in hostel, bed and breakfast accommodation or a foyer.
Low self-esteem or self-confidence.
Young carer.
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
11
The following signs and behaviour are generally seen in children who are already being sexually
exploited.














Missing from home or care.
Physical injuries.
Drug or alcohol misuse.
Involvement in offending.
Repeat sexually-transmitted infections, pregnancy and terminations.
Absent from school.
Change in physical appearance.
Evidence of sexual bullying and/or vulnerability through the internet and/or social networking
sites.
Estranged from their family.
Receipt of gifts from unknown sources.
Recruiting others into exploitative situations.
Poor mental health.
Self-harm.
Thoughts of or attempts at suicide.
Research has highlighted that any child displaying several vulnerabilities from the above lists should
be considered to be at high risk of sexual exploitation.
However, it is important to note that children and young people without pre-existing vulnerabilities
can still be sexually exploited. Therefore, any child or young person showing risk indicators in the
second list, but none of the vulnerabilities in the first, should also be considered as a potential victim.
A Multi-agency network or planning meeting/discussion should take place for all children considered
at risk of sexual exploitation. Child Protection Procedures should be followed where:
 The child is at immediate risk of significant harm.
 There is concern that the sexual exploitation is being facilitated by the child’s parent/carer.
 There is concern that the sexual exploitation is facilitated by the child’s parent/carer failing to
protect.
 There is concern that a related or unrelated adult in a position of trust or responsibility to the
child is organising or encouraging the sexual exploitation.
We will:
Manage risk at the lowest level to prevent escalation, increase the number of appropriate CSE
referrals and achieve good outcomes for children and young people.
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
12
Implement wider activities with children and young people to increase their awareness and
ensure they know how to access support.
PREVENT
There are three key features in preventing children and young people becoming subjected to sexual
exploitation, they are awareness, training and disruption.
Awareness-Raising with Children and Families
It is extremely important to ensure that we focus on raising children and young people’s awareness
of sexual exploitation. Schools, colleges and youth services are key agencies and have a very
important role to play in awareness raising and safeguarding children and young people from sexual
exploitation.
Any work on raising the awareness of children and young people must be supported by work with
parents and carers to supplement and reinforce that awareness.
Agencies who work with children need to:
Engage with children and young people to ensure they have an understanding of the issues
surrounding CSE;
Develop activities which will dissuade children and young people becoming involved in CSE.
Awareness-Raising in Communities/Community Engagement
Development of community intelligence is very important in preventing child sexual exploitation.
Raising awareness of targeted groups/organisations, for example, taxi, hotel and leisure
organisations, is another key feature of prevention.
Training
Raising the awareness of those who work with children and young people to recognise the signs and
indicators of CSE is an essential component of prevention. The HSCB will develop a CSE training
strategy and will also commission CSE training.
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
13
Single agencies also have a role to play in equipping their staff to recognise and respond to CSE. As a
minimum individual agencies need to:

Ensure staff working with or in contact with children are able to identify those children and
young people at risk of CSE;

Ensure staff working with or in contact with children are able to identify activities employed
by offenders/abusers;

Ensure staff know what interventions are appropriate and how to implement and or signpost
to appropriate agencies/services.
Agencies must consider the provision of training for their agency that should be delivered in line with
the role of the professional and the level of detail they require.
We will:
Engage with our local communities and raise awareness of CSE and how it affects individuals.
This will help young people to understand the potential dangers of exploitation, make safe
choices and build their resilience.
Promote learning about healthy relationships including respect, what is acceptable and
unacceptable and how to access support.
Work to support children and young people to stay safe when using digital technology is an
important aspect of work to prevent children and young people being targeted for child sexual
exploitation. The children’s workforce needs to be aware of how abusers can use technology
to recruit and communicate with victims.
Undertake proactive communication with the media.
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
14
PROTECT
Whilst there may be situations which require emergency interventions to protect young people,
often the best approach is to work collaboratively with the young person and their family.
Child Sexual Exploitation sometimes includes the “movement” of children/young people between
houses/premises, hotels, locations, towns or cities. When concerns for such movements arise, there
will need to be a response that addresses the issue of internal/domestic trafficking as well as child
sexual exploitation. This may include a referral to the UK Human Trafficking Centre.
In addition, links between children/young people missing from care/home and action to safeguard
children/young people at risk of harm via sexual exploitation need to be made both at an operational
and strategic level. The vulnerability of those missing from home/care to sexual exploitation needs
to be understood by the children’s workforce and appropriate responses made to explore potential
exploitation.
The guidance provided by the HSCB regarding responding to cases of harm arising from under age
sexual activity provides a framework for professionals to use to explore if a young person is engaged
in harmful/abusive sexual activity.
Constant vigilance and awareness about organised criminal groups operating in Herefordshire is
needed given the links found by the OCC between organised crime groups and CSE.
We will:
Ensure that targeted help is child or person-centred, and based on building a consistent
relationship of trust with the young person over time. We must understand their journey
and work at a pace that is accessible to the young person. Young people must be supported
to build resilience and empowered to make choices to regain control over their lives.
Involve parents and key family members in the assessment and planning process, and
ensure that young people are central to any decision making. The aim is to support and
empower young people and their families to find solutions themselves wherever possible.
Collate data regarding the nature and extent of CSE in Herefordshire and ensure effective
links are made with children/young people who go “missing” or absent and children missing
education.
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
15
PURSUE
HSCB will build on the work of committed and skilled professionals and take a more strategic
approach to identifying, pursuing, disrupting and prosecuting perpetrators.
General awareness of CSE amongst key groups of professionals and community organisations is a
critical protective factor for children and families. Mapping of potential access points to vulnerable
children and young people will assist in targeting those areas where perpetrators prey on children.
Police should lead on this but information and intelligence from all agencies will be used to map the
‘hotspots’ and pursuing. These areas may include; Hostels, Care Homes, Youth Clubs, Schools,
Colleges, Taxi Ranks, local food outlets etc.
We will:
Develop a strategic overview of the prevalence of CSE by updating the Force-wide CSE
Problems profile.
Develop a disruption toolkit and conduct targeted activity in known areas of vulnerability and
identified hotspots.
Ensure that we will do all we can to disrupt perpetrators who are sexually exploiting young
people and where possible prosecute them.
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
16
PROSECUTE
Gathering evidence to enable prosecutions can be very difficult. Young people who are victims may
not wish to provide information, or may not have the details that are necessary to support the
investigation. Perpetrators often use drugs and alcohol to disorientate victims, and move young
people to unfamiliar areas. In some cases exploitation occurs involving multiple abusers acting in
chaotic settings.
These are all features of sexual exploitation that can erode the victim’s ability to understand what is
happening to them or provide those trying to help them with evidence. The research suggests that
professionals working with vulnerable young people often do not understand the requirements of
evidence or the need to collect information in a systematic way.
Although there are recent high profile cases involving prosecution of groups of adults, these are the
exception and require concerted multi-agency effort and resources to achieve. Recent studies
suggest that a proactive, joined up strategic approach is necessary to increase the number of
prosecutions brought against perpetrators.
We will:
Build on the work of committed and skilled professionals, and take a more strategic approach
to identifying, disrupting and prosecuting perpetrators.
Further develop our systems to enhance information-sharing and provide clear guidance to
support effective collection and recording of evidence are crucial to improve performance in
this area. Police will continue their efforts to secure prosecutions and maximise opportunities
to disrupt child sexual exploitation locally.
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
17
Implementation, Monitoring and Review
The HSCB Child Sexual Exploitation and Missing subgroup has lead responsibility for implementing
the action plan (see Appendix 1) and will also receive a quarterly performance management report
(see Appendix 2).
The Terms of Reference for this subgroup can be found at Appendix 4 and have been approved by the
HSCB.
The subgroup will report on a regular basis to the HSCB Executive and will review and revise the
action plan in response to local need.
HSCB partners have signed up to work together to meet the core aims set out within this strategy. It
is clearly acknowledged that only a proactive, co-ordinated, multi-agency approach will be effective
in disrupting child sexual exploitation and prosecuting perpetrators.
Outcomes
Suggested outcomes to measure (adapted to each case) are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Increased awareness of risk/exploitative behaviour
Re-engaged in appropriate education provision/improving school attendance
Reduction in “missing” episodes
Reduction in contact (frequency and duration) with coercive/abusive individuals/peers
Increased knowledge of positive sexual health behaviours
Engagement (or increased engagement) in positive social/ recreational activities
Improvement in family relationships
Living in stable and secure accommodation
Improving knowledge of safety strategies
Increased self-esteem (self-report: measured pre and post intervention)
Disruption of perpetrators
Investigation of perpetrators
Increased parental awareness of risk/protective behaviours
Reduction in young person’s substance misuse
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
18
Appendices
Appendix 1
CSE Action Plan
Appendix 2
CSE Scorecard
Appendix 3
See Me, Hear Me Framework
Appendix 4
CSE & Missing Subgroup Terms of
Reference
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
19
REGIONAL CSE MINIMUM DATASET - all measures to be broken down by Local
Authority area
Year to Date:
Number and profile of CSE victims (Profile to include gender, age, ethnicity, disability, legal
status, level of risk, postcode/ward, education provision, agencies known to and breakdown
of cases by Early Help Plan, CiN plan, CPP, LAC as well as strategy discussions, S47s,
MASE/risk management meetings held)
Number of young people missing from (a) home and (b) care - total number and those
missing 3 times or more in a quarter
Number of young people absent from (a) home and (b) care - total number and those
absent 3 times or more in a quarter.
Percentage reduction of frequently missing young people 3 in 90 update to be provided
Percentage completion of WRIs:
Number of children CME/not in receipt of 25 hours education: Education Rep
Number of CSE crimes
Number of offenders identified and prosecuted for CSE related offences
Solved and resolved rape and serious sexual offences against children and young people
Number of child abduction notices serviced
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
20
Number of licensed premises/activities that have been disrupted using licensing legislation
Number of referrals to NRM and percentage accepted as victims of trafficking
Attendance by Partner Agencies at LSCB CSE training/completion of online LSCB CSE training
Number of school/education settings delivering PSHE. (Safe and healthy relationships)
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
21
A
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
22
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
23
HSCB Child Sexual Exploitation & Missing Sub Group Terms of Reference
Approved by:
HSCB Executive Group
Date:
May 2015
Date of Review:
April 2016
Chairperson:
West Mercia Police
Vice Chair:
Herefordshire Children’s Social Care (CSC)
Meeting Frequency: On a monthly basis between June and
September 2015 after which the
frequency of the meetings will be
reviewed.
Quorum:
3 agencies (or nominated deputies – health agencies count as one for
the purposes of quoracy)
1 Overall Purpose
The purpose of the group is to co-ordinate and ensure the effectiveness of the
strategy to prevent child sexual exploitation as well as to ensure an effective
response to children and young people at risk of, or being, sexually exploited;
including those who go missing from home or care as well as those who are
trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and to oversee the delivery plan.
2 Role, Function and Responsibilities Ensure that an awareness raising and
training programme is in place for professionals.
Enhance public awareness of child sexual exploitation, in particular with
parents and carers;
Ensure that young people are made aware of the issues around exploitation
and the risks associated with going missing and that a preventative approach
is in place;
Explore best practice, expertise and utilise research and learning to ensure an
effective response to child sexual exploitation, missing children and young
people and trafficked children and young people;
Ensure appropriate procedures are in place and address any cross border
issues;
Identify and monitor the number of children and young people at risk of child
sexual exploitation/being abused via child sexual exploitation and monitor
data and trends in respect of children and young people who go missing from
home/care;
Monitor the outcome of referrals to the National Referral Mechanism;
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
24
Explore any gaps in service provision to ensure a safe, responsive and
effective service is provided to children and young people at risk of, or being
sexually exploited as well as those who go missing from home/care and/or are
trafficked;
To promote responses that disrupts and brings to justice the perpetrators of
child sexual exploitation and child trafficking;
The above will be achieved through the delivery of an action plan that
supports the HSCB Strategy to tackle child sexual exploitation.
3 Principles
All work completed by the sub group will be done so in a manner which:
 Recognises that child sexual exploitation happens in Herefordshire and
actively seeks to identify children and young people who are at risk of or are
being sexually exploited;
 Takes a proactive approach. This includes a focus on prevention, early
identification, enduring support, disrupting activity and prosecuting
perpetrators well as preventing re-victimisation;
 Recognises that children and young people do not make informed choices to
enter or remain in sexual exploitation, but do so due to coercion, enticement,
manipulation or desperation;
 Addresses the various models of child sexual exploitation and places
responsibility for sexual exploitation with the perpetrator(s);
 Focuses on the needs and rights of children and young people. Children and
young people are entitled to be safeguarded from sexual exploitation;
 Recognises that young people under 16 cannot legally consent to sexual
activity and sexual intercourse with children under the age of 13 is statutory
rape;
 Recognises that young people over the age of 16 can be sexually exploited;
 Treats sexually exploited young people as victims of child abuse;
 Carefully supports young people to distinguish between their own choices
about sex and sexuality, and the sexual activities they are coerced into;
 Promotes professional responses that recognise and treat parents/carers as
equal partners in all assessment, planning and review processes designed to
safeguard their child; unless the professional assessment evidences that
parents/carers are complicit in the abuse
Ensures that primary law enforcement is made against the adults who groom,
traffic and sexually exploit young people;
 Promotes effective joint working between different agencies and professionals
underpinned by a shared understanding of the problem of sexual exploitation;
 Has regard for specific factors such as the age, disability, race, ethnicity or
cultural backgrounds of both perpetrators and victims;
 Supports empowerment of children, young people and their families as well as
the wider community to keep children and young people safe from
abuse/neglect.
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
25
4
Membership and Chairing Arrangements
The following organisations/sectors will be represented within the membership of the
group:
Health
2gether NHS Foundation Trust;
NHS Herefordshire CCG;
Wye Valley NHS Trust;
Public Health commissioner.
Local Authority
Children’s Wellbeing Services (Head of Service within children’s social care);
CSE and Missing Coordinator;
Early Help Services;
Strategic Housing;
Commissioning.
Other Organisations/Sectors
HSCB Lay Member;
Education;
FE College;
National Probation Service;
Youth Justice (YOS);
West Mercia Police (Chair);
Missing Persons Coordinator, HAU West Mercia Police;
Third Sector.
In attendance
Business Unit Lead Learning and Development Officer;
Business Unit Business Support Co-ordinator.
5 Attendance
If an HSCB member misses two of the previous three meetings without ensuring an
appropriate deputy is able to attend, the HSCB Independent Chair, on behalf of the
HSCB, may write to that member to remind them of their obligation to attend
meetings. If non-attendance continues, the Chair will write to the senior officer of
that agency requiring a permanent replacement.
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
26
6 Accountability/reporting arrangements
The group is accountable via the chair/vice chair, to the HSCB Board and is
responsible for coordinating the implementation of the CSE strategy action plan
In addition to the above accountability, each member of the sub group is responsible
for both representing, and holding their agency to account, for its safeguarding work
and responsibilities.
The group’s Chair will also attend the HSCB Executive group, to whom it will report
on a quarterly basis on activities and outcomes, as well as feeding back relevant
matters from the HSCB Executive to this group.
In addition to the above regular communication within the HSCB Executive group,
the Chair of this sub group will ensure appropriate and regular communication
across the LSCB infrastructure in a timely manner- for example reporting outcomes
from the work/meeting of one sub group to another, and in respect of changes
recommended to policy, training, practice etc.
The sub group meeting will be minuted and a record of the work will be available for
the HSCB. The group will comply with the HSCB Constitution.
The Chair will produce a report on impact and outcomes for inclusion in the LSCB
Annual Report.
7 Authority to act
The group has delegated authority from Herefordshire Safeguarding Children Board
to monitor outcomes, address failure to implement actions and take necessary steps
when insufficient assurance is presented.
8 Monitoring effectiveness
The group will monitor performance against these terms of reference annually; in
particular evaluating attendance by members and the achievement of the identified
responsibilities. This will form an annual report for the board.
9
Agenda and papers
Agendas and papers should be with the members of the sub group five days before
the meeting. It is the responsibility of the person producing the report to ensure it is
with the Business Unit seven days before the meeting.
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
27
HSCB CSE Strategy 2015-17
V7
28